Kevin Cookingham: Clovis Online School an alternative to traditional education

A lot of attention has been paid to what isn’t working well in education, but there is a new option that has helped many students who have struggled in a traditional school environment to become successful.

We now deliver to 360 students in grades seven-12 an option that meets their personal, unique circumstances in a high-quality, online environment. Clovis Online School services students from throughout Fresno County and its eight surrounding counties.

We are commonly asked, what kind of students attend Clovis Online? The answer is all kinds. We have students who travel with hockey teams, actors, race car drivers, students who have day jobs, teen moms, brilliant students who want to work on their own, students who were bullied and/or have anxiety concerns, and, of course, students who have made poor decisions and need another educational option.

Leadership at Clovis Online School has a single goal, to help all students achieve their personal best. Our team has worked to build a positive culture by focusing on the hiring of excellent, full-time teachers who work from our school. This model is different than many online schools that allow teachers to work from home. The bottom line is effective schools encourage and expect teacher and student accountability, and that is the environment we promote.

Each month, we post every teacher’s student attendance and average student-credit completion. This is an indication of how hard our teachers are working with their students. All teachers see this data, and it inspires them to encourage their students on to even greater accomplishments.

Teachers commit to releasing tests over holidays and vacations so students can continue working. Teachers have weekly training sessions regarding our online educational platform called Edgenuity. All of these efforts are designed to help our teachers be more effective and our students to be more successful.

We also strongly encourage parent involvement. Parents can track their children’s progress daily on Edgenuity. They can see exactly how long their children worked in each subject and what their current grades are in each subject area.

Parents can review all assignments and check on subject matter progress. If a student is logged on to a class, they must be actively engaged by taking notes or interacting. In other words, you can’t log in and pretend you are working. If you do, your teacher and parents will be able to see the time as idle time and can intervene.

California Compulsory Law requires every child from the age of 6 to 18 to be in school — on time, every day. The law also requires schools and districts to track students’ attendance and attempt to work with families to improve attendance. Most schools work extremely hard at getting students to school. Clovis Online School makes every effort to maximize student achievement and to work cooperatively to get the most out of every situation.

Clovis Online School is one more great option for meeting all of the educational needs in an ever-changing society. We welcome any and all students to join our family and continue with their educational goals.